Be Not Deceived

By Dan Bailey

Be Not Deceived — (I Corinthians 6:9-11 —Article #7)

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

The next category in the list of the unrighteous that Paul gives in this passage are drunkards. The Bible clearly teaches that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God. The Greek word for drunkard means: "drunken, intoxicated" (Thayer, p. 396). According to the Webster's 1828 Dictionary, a drunkard is "One given to ebriety or excessive use of strong liquor; a person who habitually or frequently is drunk." We read in Proverbs 20: 1, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."We also read in Proverbs 23:21, "For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty..." And Proverbs 23:29-35 tells us about the devastation that results when one partakes of strong drink. "Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again."

Paul taught that Christians should not "keep company" with a brother in Christ who is a "drunkard." We read in I Corinthians 5:11: "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat." The drunkard yields his life to alcohol, drugs, or both. There is no difference in being drunk on alcohol or drunk on drugs. The result is the same. People who are drunk or intoxicated are a danger to themselves and to others. They are accident prone. They lack good moral judgment. They can not possibly fulfill their duties to their fellowman or to God.

Over the years I have met so-called "social drinkers." Let us be clear about it, every drunkard at one time was a "social drinker!" Christians should abstain from alcoholic beverages. Do not play games with Satan! Let us choose God's way and be sober- minded and ready for the Lord when He returns. I've ask a few people over the years, "If Jesus came to your house, would you offer Jesus a beer?" Several have replied, "Yes!" On the judgment day I really don't expect them to be so bold! "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (Il Corinthians 5: 10).